Chapter 9

"Novy, you need to relax."

My sobs have been harsh, racking through my soul as I sit with my back against the wall of my bedroom. As soon as I saw that... woman... I ran into my bedroom and locked the door, calling my older sister immediately.

I don't know if it was another hallucination or vision or whatever, but it was way too vivid not to freak me out. Maybe Hailey, the doctor, was wrong. I must have some sort of concussion. What if it never goes away? What if I'm stuck with these hallucinations forever?

I'm going fucking insane.

"Tell me what you saw again," my sister says calmly.

I frantically shake my injured head, knowing she can't see me. "I can't," I cry, the tears still streaming down my face.

"I can't help you if I don't know what you saw."

"It told you what I saw!" I snap, wiping at my face. My make-up is no doubt running down my face at this point, but I can't hold it together.

"Okay," Samantha sighs. "You saw a woman hanging herself in one of your bedrooms? That's what you saw?"

"Yes," I say. That's what I saw, and now the image is on repeat rolling through my head at a million miles an hour. She gets up on the stool, she steps off, her body hangs limply from the ceiling, then she disappears.

"Are you drunk?" she asks tiredly.

"No!" I tell her, exasperated. "She was there. I saw it."

"Could it not have been because you hit your head?"

I rest my head back against the wall, struggling to keep myself up. I want to get into bed and hide myself away from the world until I somehow manage to get 'settled in' here, never to see something strange or terrifying again.

"I didn't get a concussion," I say, still crying. I'm an absolute mess, probably over-reacting to what just happened.

Samantha sighs again. "Novy. Could it have anything to do with Mum?"

I muffle another sob into my hand at the reminder of our mother. "I don't know. Maybe?"

"I mean, it happened a long time ago, but it would make sense," my sister continues. "You've moved somewhere by yourself and you're stressed about all sorts. Maybe it's just buried it's way back in?"

"Maybe," I say again, taking in a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry, Novy. That must have been awful."

I nod, squeezing my eyes tight. I haven't told anyone about my past so they wouldn't know why I've reacted in this way to nothing more than a hallucination. But if they knew that my mother committed suicide when I had just turned six, maybe they'd understand.

"I don't know if I can do this," I say eventually.

"You don't really have anywhere else."

I roll my eyes, brushing a finger under them to get rid of the wetness sitting there. "Thanks for the reminder."

"I love you sis," is all she says.

"I love you too."

When I put the phone down, I notice there's a little boy in the room with me. His eyes are large and wide, staring at me, as he sits on the floor with a red ball in his hands.

I stare back at him with my knees up to my chest, realising that I really am going insane.

Until he looks down at the ball, then back at me, and something starts tugging within my chest. I can't explain it, but I feel somewhat of a maternal instinct towards him. He's so young, sitting there so innocently with the ball held between his chubby, starfish hands, and he's wearing a onesie covered in little woodland creatures. Kids have never appealed much to me, but this one is adorable.

"Hey," I whisper, my voice a little raspy from crying. The boy's head snaps up to look at me, but I quickly realise he isn't like the girl I keep seeing. He looks at me with curiosity rather than fear. His head tilts to the side. He watches me for a long, silent moment. He can see me, but he's not scared of me.

"Hey," I say again. I slowly outstretch my hand. He doesn't even flinch. "You want to play?"

He keeps watching me, before he drops the ball onto the floor.

"Pass it to me," I tell him.

He does.

The ball rolls towards me and I pick it up. It feels solid between my fingers, definitely real, but it can't be. I've never seen a red ball while living here, and there certainly wasn't one in my bedroom before now.

Glancing back up at him, I see the boy watching me expectantly. He looks between me and the ball. I find myself smiling as I roll it along the floor towards him and it lightly nudges him in the leg. He looks down, picks it up, before rolling it back to me.

We play the very simple game for a little while, rolling the ball to one another, until the boy begins to smile. After my accident last night and the incident with the woman twenty minutes ago, I'm somewhat comforted by the boy.

Until there's a screaming by the door. My head snaps over, a little too fast, and the girl is there. She's even more clearer this time. Long ringlets of blond hair, wearing a white nightgown with bright blue eyes wide with fear.

I look back at the boy, whose face crumples and he lets out a wail. The screaming from both children pierces through my injured head and I slap my hands over my ears, my heart pounding within my chest. I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the sounds to stop, willing for everything to just stop.

Eventually it does.

The screaming stops, so I open my eyes to see the children are gone. There's nothing in here. No one but me. Even the red ball has disappeared.

The house is eerily quiet as I force myself to stand to my feet, and I know I can't be here by myself. I know I'm weak, I know I should try and ignore what's going on, but there's no way I'll be able to any time soon.

I find the note from Landon and call him.

--**--

With Keely, Jonah and Landon back with me at the house, I immediately feel at ease. Although there's a slight, constant tremble shivering through my body as I make everyone a hot drink each, my breathing has finally levelled out and my heart rate has returned to a normal, healthy pace. I might be used to being alone, but not like this. Ever since I first saw that little girl all I can think about is how this might have been a bad idea.

Keely helps me take the drinks into the downstairs living room and we all sit on the sofas surrounding the coffee table. It's the same room in which those two books fell from the shelves in the corner, and as I sit down next to Landon and sink into the plush pillows, my gaze travels over to the shelves warily. If another one of those books fall this evening, I'm out of here.

My new friends have an idea as to why I invited them over tonight, but I end up telling them the whole story once we're comfortable. They're quiet as they listen, nodding and humming when appropriate, until I finish the story of the children and the woman and they're speechless.

Then Jonah sighs. "Ember. Are you sure you saw all of this?"

"Yes," I say, trying to keep my voice level. I don't want to be the asshole that snaps at them while knowing just how insane I sound. "Everything I've told you is true."

"We don't think you're lying," Keely says gently. I can tell they're trying to be patient with me. "We just... I think it's just hard to understand what you've been seeing when we haven't seen it ourselves."

"I know. I know it sounds crazy. I just don't know what to do," I admit.

"Would you be able to move somewhere else?" Landon asks. "In the village, of course."

I shake my head, willing my face to not turn red in embarrassment. Every time I look at Landon I think of our kiss last night before everything went to shit. "Maybe when I've earned some money working at Silverstones. But that won't be for a while."

"You really saw a woman hanging herself?" Jonah asks incredulously. This is the first he's heard of my sightings so I can understand his shock, but the blunt reminder of the woman fills my stomach with bile.

"Yes," I say. I feel Landon's hand rest upon mine and I take it gratefully. Warm, rough farmer hands. It feels so lovely to be comforted when I need it, instead of being forced to put up with my problems until they are replaced with some other issue. "She was there. She hung herself. Then she was gone."

"What about the children?" Keely asks.

Landon's hand squeezes mine. You don't have to tell them is what the gesture says. But it's okay. I want to. "There's a young girl. She's terrified of me. She ran away from me last night and that's how I fell down the stairs. Then I saw a little boy today. He's really young, probably about a year old. He wasn't scared of me. He just wanted to play a game."

"What game?" Landon asks, shuffling closer to me.

I shrug. "He had a red ball with him. We passed it to each other."

"Where's the ball now?" Jonah questions.

"I don't know," I tell him.

The three of them exchange subtle looks. I can't decipher what these looks mean exactly, but it's a mixture of confusion, disbelief and concern. This isn't going as well as I'd hoped.

I run my free hand through my hair. "I really wish there was a way I could prove it to you. But there's not. So I completely understand if I sound crazy but..."

Just as my eyes flicker to the cold, empty fireplace in the wall behind the twins, I see the woman again. She's already on the stool and steps off without a single second of hesitation, and I start screaming all over again. When will this shit stop?

I jump up from the couch, yelling slightly manically as I point to the woman who disappears as quickly as she came. Then the cracking of her neck fills my ears and I cover them with my hands, ignoring the confused questions from Landon and the twins, who are all stood up and fully alert.

Landon is the first to step closer to me, making me feel a lot less like a savage animal they're steering clear of, and he places reassuring hands on my shoulders.

"Em?" he asks, voice laced with worry.

"It was her!" I shriek, pointing towards the fireplace before quickly clasping my hands back over my ears.

"What did you see?" Keely asks, standing back with her brother who looks equally as shocked.

"The-- the woman again. She was right there!"

I'm a mess, screaming and yelling and crying at another one of my damned hallucinations. They must think there's something wrong with me and rightfully so-- I don't even think I'm okay anymore. But then Landon's hands squeeze at my shoulders and his piercing blue eyes gaze into the depths of my soul.

"Em, calm down," he says. He glances over to the fireplace, his forehead crumpled with confusion, before he looks back at me. Then he says something that fills my body with all sorts of relief. "I saw her too."

There are more tears that spring to my eyes as he brings me closer to him and he holds me. His hands tremble as we clutch onto one another, eyes closed and shaky breaths as I realise that I'm no longer alone in this. Landon saw her. It's not just me. Holy shit.

"Saw who?" Jonah asks impatiently. Landon turns to face the twins but keeps an arm across my shoulders as my body continues to shiver. My anxiety hits me with a storm of snow and ice and I realise how freezing it feels in the room. But Landon keeps me a little bit warm. He's there for me.

"She's not lying," Landon says, shaking his head. "There was a woman, stood over there. She hung herself."

"I didn't see," Keely says sadly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I say, exhaling a worry-filled breath. I step away from Landon, immediately missing his warmth. "I just... I can't stay here by myself tonight. Could you guys please stay?"

The three of them nod without much hesitation.

Thank God.

WC: 2092